<div>The applications industry has got a life of its now and this has led to the growth of the apps economy. But this also means that along with the helpful applications, malware attacks and scams have got more commonplace. As more and more scammers jump onto this highly productive bandwagon, the types of attacks and scams have become more creative.<br /><br />The latest Symantec Intelligence Report, September 2012 refers to an Android application that promises ro charges the battery of the smartphone through solar energy but instead steals critical information from your device.<br /><br />As the high processing power of embedded CPUs and large, bright LCD screens, coupled with frequent usage, have made battery life a perennial cause of worry, this has spawned a whole genre of applications aimed at addressing this problem. There are applications that offer status updates on battery life, notify you when your battery is getting low, turn off features that are not necessary. A malicious application in point is that of “Battery Long” (Android.Ackposts) that appears to help with the battery life, but simply steals information from the compromised device. The mobile malware developers have been attracted to Android because applications have become integral to mobile phones with users ready to go to any degree for downloading alternative ones. <br /><br />Breaking through the boundaries of credibility is a bunch of applications that will supposedly turn your phone screen into a solar charger. Even though this is completely false, there are a number of “legitimate” applications out there making this claim. Many operate by using the cameras to measure the ambient light levels to move an onscreen dial, indicating the “charge rate” for increased accuracy. These are joke applications at best, in some cases even including small print on the application description page denying it has the ability to actually charge the phone.<br /><br />Another such example is the Android.Sumzand. The application claims to be able to convert the screen on your device into a solar panel and use it to charge the battery, if exposed to sunlight. Sumzand also steals contact data from your phone. Until real solar panels are actually installed on phones, it’s best to just continue charging your phone the old-fashioned way. If an application requests permissions that seem out of the ordinary for what it is supposed to do, then don’t install it.<br /><br />India is one of the fastest growing mobile markets in the world. According to Trai, India has over 900 million mobile subscribers and smartphones available for as little as Rs 5,000, nearly every Indian has a cell phone now. Android-enabled smartphones account for more than half of the smartphone sales globally, according to a Gartner report. <br /><br /> </div>
